Pre-tied ties embodying tie string-pinching loop on yoke member



Jan. 16, 1968 R. v MATHISON 3,363,264

PRE'TIED TIES EMBODYING TIE STRINGPINCHING LOOP ON YOKE MEMBER Filed July 26, 1965 INVENTOR; ROBERT MATH SON United States Patent C 3,363,264 PRE-TIED TIES EMBODYING TIE STRING- PINCHING LOOP N YOKE MEMBER Robert V. Mathison, 5 Woodcrest Road, Asheville, NC. 28804 Filed July 26, 1965, Ser. No. 474,685 7 Claims. (Cl. 2150) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Pre-tied four-in-hand ties, and processes for making same, by folding the tie into two, spaced, triangulated fold corners at juncture of a bight portion connecting front and rear tie strings, thereafter folding the front and rear strings into overlying relationship and forming a front knot loop in the bight portion and thereafter inserting a knot-forming member into the knot portion directly behind the front knot loop. The knot-forming member characterized by a central rearwardly opening loop and upwardly and outwardly diverging legs. When front and rear strings are pressed forwardly into the rearwardly This invention in general relates to pre-tied, four-inhand ties and to processes for making said pre-tied ties. More particularly, the invention pertains to pre-tied, fourin-hand ties in which the knot portion thereof is formed by folding the mid portion of the tie and the folded tie is shaped into a tapered knot and depending front and rear strings by a yoke member about said strings behind the front knot loop of said knot.

Pre-tied, four-in-hand ties and pre-tied bow ties embrace a substantial portion of the tie market for both adults and children, the more important pre-tied tie market from a volume standpoint being the four-in-hand tie market. There are many known ways for making pre-tied four-inhand ties. A popular method for manufacture of said ties involves bar tacking on the back of the knot portion of the pre-tied, four-in-hand tie for holding the knot together at the bottom. Such bar tacking can be done on a stitching machine after a standard yoke has been positioned in the knot portion of the pre-tied tie. Bar tacking ordinarily constitutes a separate step in the manufacturing process.

Also, some techniques for manufacture of pre-tied, four-in-hand ties require a small elastic band binding the strings of the pre-tied tie in the knot area in order to produce the desired folds or pleats in the front string immediately below the knot. Such bands are also used to keep the knot from opening at the bottom portion thereof.

Almost all pre-tied, four-in-hand ties use a knot-forming member, e.g., a yoke, for shaping the knot. These knotforming members are ordinarily confined within the knot portion of the tie so that they cannot be removed unless the bar tacking rubber bands, etc., are removed. One of the major disadvantages of pre-tied, four-in-hand ties of this nature is that the ties cannot be readily reshaped after removal of the yoke member without the special machinery of the tie manufacturer. Therefore, if a pretied tie is to be cleaned, the cleaning is ordinarily tried with the yoke member remaining in place in the knot 3,363,264 Patented Jan. 16, 1968 portion. This makes it considerably diflicult to effectively clean the tie in the knot area, and, furthermore, subjects the yoke member to the action of the cleaning fluid, which can be detrimental to plastic yoke members. One of the advantages of this invention is that the tie cloth can be readily removed from the yoke so that the tie cloth can be cleaned separately from the yoke. This advantage, coupled with the simple folds required to make the knot portion, the elimination of bar tacking, elastic bands, etc., and the automatic shaping of the knot portion and the pleats or folds in the front tie string adjacent thereto, makes it easy for the average person to reshape the cleaned tie fabric into a pre-tied tie.

Briefly, the pre-tied, four-in-hand ties of the invention are made by folding the usual type of four-in-hand tie with two, spaced diagonal folds at substantially the mid portion of the tie strip to form spaced, substantially parallel front and rear strings connected by a bight por tion extending therebetween at substantially right angles to said strings. The diagonal folds form two, spaced triangulated fold corners at opposite ends of the bight portion.

Thereafter, the front string and the rear string are folded inwardly into overlying relationship, thereby forming a front knot loop in the bight portion immediately in front of the triangulated folds.

The knot forming member having a central, rearwardly opening loop and upwardly and outwardly diverging legs is inserted into the knot portion directly behind the front knot loop. The front and rear strings adjacent the knot loop are pressed forwardly into the rearwardly opening loop of the knot forming members through a rear open ing of the knot forming loop. After the front and rear strings are pressed into and pinched together by the rearwardly opening loop of the knot forming member, the rear opening is blocked to prevent the strings from escape from the rearward opening of said loop. In the broadest contemplation of the invention any suitable means can be used for this blocking step, including perma nently deforming the rearwardly opening loop to narrow or eliminate the rearward opening. In the preferred practice of the invention, however, a member is secured across the rearward opening to provide such blocking function, said member preferably embodying means for removably attaching the knot portion of the tie to the shirt in the collar area.

After the rearward opening is blocked, the rearwardly opening loop is positioned behind the front knot loop, e.g., by sliding the yoke member into the knot area. In this step the knot is shaped into its tapered form and the strings are pinched behind the front loop of the knot so that the string portions immediately below the knot assume a pleated or folded shape. The upwardly and outwardly diverging legs aid in the shaping of the tapered knot and preferably project beyond the upper end thereof to provide projections which slip beneath and are held by the collar of a shirt.

In the most preferred form of the invention, the aforesaid rearwardly opening loop projects forwardly of the plane through the upwardly and outwardly diverging legs. In this arrangement, the leg shift rearwardly in the knot portion into the triangulated folds when the tie strings are pressed into the latter loop and the knot forming member is pulled into the knot portion of the tie.

The preferred shape for the latter loop is one embodying a downwardly extending, tapered tongue on the front portion of the loop. The purpose for said tongue is that of aiding the shaping of the knot. Also, the inner face of the rearwardly opening loop preferably has opposite its rearward opening downwardly tapered indentations which function to position the pleats or folds in the front 3 string immediately below the knot portion as the latter loop is drawn into the knot portion behind the front knot loop.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide improvements in processes of manufacture of pre-tied, four-in-hand ties through the use of folding techniques for the fabric tie strip and the use of a yoke member embodying a loop for pinching the front and rear strings and for shaping the tie in the knot area.

Another object of the invention is to provide improvements in pre-tied, four-in-hand ties having the knot portion formed by folds as herein described, said knot portion being shaped by an inserted yoke member having a rearwardly opening loop and upwardly and outwardly diverging legs in assembled relationship with the front and rear strings and knot portions of said tie as herein described.

Still another object of the invention is to provide new yoke members for use in pre-tied, four-in-hand ties.

These, as well as other objects, improvements, and advantages of the invention, will be appreciated more fully by those skilled in the art from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, which embodiment is illustrated in the drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a fabric tie strip with the first two folds formed therein;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are rear plan views of fragments of said tie and illustrate the next two folding steps;

FIG. 4 is a front plan view of a fragment of said folded tie strip in the knot area;

FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of a preferred form of a yoke;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are top, perspective views showing the steps of insertion of the yoke member in the knot portion of the tie and the pressing of the tie strings into the rearwardly opening loop of said yoke;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation of a member used to close the rear opening of said loop in structural combination with a downwardly hooked, hook portion adapted to hook over the upper edge of a shirt between the front tabs of the collar and secured to support the tie on the shirt front;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the yoke of BIG. 5 and the closure member of FIG. 8 in assembled relationship;

FIG. 10 is a top perspective view of said members in assembled relationship on the tie priorto drawing the yoke member into the knot portion;

FIG. 11 is a rear perspective view of the assembly of FIG. 10 with a portion of the front and rear strings of the tie cut away in the knot area to facilitate illustration of the tongue portion of the yoke member; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective View of a fragment of the front collar area of a shirt with the pre-tied tie of the aforesaid figures positioned on the shirt.

Referring to the drawings, the cloth, four-in-hand tie 15 embodies a front string 16 and a rear string 17 with the customary shape. It is folded with front faces 18 and 19 of the front and rear strings facing the same direction by two diagonal folds forming triangulated folds 20 and 21 at opposite ends of the bight portion 22.

The cloth tie strip is further folded by forming a 180 fold 23 at the juncture of bight portion 22 and the portion of front string 16 in the rear of triangulated fold 20.

A similar 180 fold 2-4 is formed with the rear string 17,

whereby rear faces 26 and 27 of said strings both face rearwardly. The front and rear strings 16 and 17 are now in overlying relationship with the diagonal edges 28 and 29 of folds 20 and 21 overlapping and respectively extending diagonally from an upper corner toward the opposite lower corner on the rear face of the knot portion of the tie. The front face of the knot portion of the tie constitutes a front knot loop 30 overlying the triangulated folds 20 and 21.

4 The tapered knot of the pre-tied tie and the folds or pleats in the strings in the vicinity of the lower edge of the knot are formed by inserting yoke 36 immediately behind the front knot loop 30 and ahead of the triangulated folds substantially as shown in FIG. 6. The yoke 36 comprises a forwardly extending loop 37 having a rear opening 38 and upwardly and outwardly diverging legs 39 and 40 on the rear portion of yoke loop 37. The yoke loop 37 projects forwardly from the-plane of the legs 39 and 40.

In the preferred form of the invention the yoke loop 37 has a downwardly extending, tapered tongue 41 on the front' portion only. Also, in the preferred form of the invention the loop 37 and tongue 41 have on their inner face at least one, and preferably two or more, downwardly extending, tapered recesses 42. The function of recesses 42 is that of positioning the location of the pleats or folds 43 of the front string 16 in the vicinity of the knot portion of the tie as the yoke loop 37 and its tongue 41 are slipped upwardly into the knot portion during the final stages of the process.

After the yoke 36 is positioned substantially as shown in FIG. 6 the front and rear strings 16 and 17 are pressed through the rear opening 38 and confined in the loop 37 below the front knot loop 30 as shown in FIG. 7. This pinches together the confined portion of the strings 16 and 17 and begins the formation of the tapered knot 51.

Next, the rear opening 38 is blocked off in any suit able manner to keep the strings 16 and 17 confined within the loop 37. If the yoke 36 is made of metal, the rear portion of loop 37 may be pressed in a manner so as to bring together the bases of the legs 39 and 40 in a confining manner. Other possibilities for blocking the rear opening 38 include looping and tying a thread or string thereacross. The most preferred form, however, of closure for the rear opening 38 is the use of a closure member 44, which comprises a split ring 46 which is either resilient enough or deformable enough to allow it to be slipped over the bases of legs 39 and 40 in the manner shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The split ring 46 may embody a member for removably attaching the pre-tied tie to the front of a dress shirt or the like in the collar area. In the illustrated embodiment the closure member 44 has a rearwardly extending web 47 with an upwardly extending, downwardly hooked hook 48 thereon.

After the ring 46 is secured so as to block the rear opening 38 of loop 37 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the yoke 36 is slipped upwardly about strings 16 and 17 until its ring 37 and tongue 41 are behind the front knot loop 30. The front string 18 is guided in this sliding motion in recesses 42, whereby the outwardly directed folds of pleats or folds 43 are positioned in and directly below the recesses 42. The upper end of the hook member 48 is substantially even with the upper edge of front knot loop 30 in the final form of the pre-tied tie as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.

The pre-tied tie is mounted on the front of the shirt,

such as dress shirt 49, between the front tabs of collar 50 with the projecting ends of legs 39 and 40 extending outwardly under the upper edge of the. collar 50. The

tapered knot 51 is held against the shirt front in the vicinity of the collar button by the projecting ends of legs 39 and 40 and is supported against downward slippage by hooking the hook 48 over the top edge of the shirt above the collar button.

Other embodiments of members which may be used to attach the pre-tied tie to the shirt in lieu of the closure member 44 with its hook 48 are described and claimed in my application filed concurrently herewith.

It is thought that the invention and its numerous attendant advantages will be fully understood from the foregoing descripition, and it is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, or sacrificing any of its attendant advantages, the form herein disclosed being a preferred embodiment for the purpose of illustrating the invention.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A pre-tied four-in-hand tie which comprises a front tie string and a rear tie string depending from a tapered knot portion, said knot portion being formed in said tie by a mid-portion thereof between said strings in the form of a front knot loop and a pair of overlapping, triangulated folds having diagonal edges extending from the respective upper corners of said knot portion substantially toward the respective lower, opposite corners thereof, a yoke member having a yoke loop behind said front knot loop, said yoke loop confining said strings within its loop, and pinching said strings into folds or pleats therein and immediately below said knot portion, and upwardly and outwardly diverging legs on said yoke extending through said knot portion along opposite sides thereof.

2. A tie as claimed in claim 1 wherein said yoke loop projects forwardly of the plane of said legs, said yoke loop has a rearward opening for insertion of said strings therein, and a closure member attached to said yoke across said opening to preclude escape of said strings from said yoke loop.

3. A tie as claimed in claim 2 wherein said yoke loop has a downwardly projecting, tapered tongue on the front portion thereof.

4. A tie as claimed in claim 3 wherein said tongue has downwardly extending, tapered indentations in the inner face thereof to orient the positioning of said pleats or folds in said front string.

5. A tie as claimed in claim 2 wherein said closure memher is a split ring removably mounted about the bases of said legs across said opening.

6. A tie as claimed in claim 2, and means on said closure member for attaching said tie to the collar area of a buttoned dress shirt.

7. A tie as claimed in claim 2, and an upwardly projecting, downwardly hooked hook member on said closure member for hooking over the top of a dress shirt between the tabs of the collar thereof to hold said tie on said shirt.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,553,437 5/1951 Burke 2150 2,804,627 9/1957 Less 2150 2,907,045 10/ 1959 OReilly 2150 1,164,590 12/1915 Fearnaught 2l53 3,112,492 12/1963 Less 2153 3,263,237 8/1966 Bellon 2150 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. 

